Restoring ravaged forests

It is encouraging to see the report from Ben Parfitt proposing some concrete ways to include forests in B.C.’s efforts to address climate change. But one of the report’s key recommendations points to a problem. The report notes that B.C. is failing to quantify and deal with the massive area that is not successfully regenerating after fires, pests and disease outbreaks.

The increase in the total of so-called NSR (not satisfactorily restocked) areas is a major betrayal of the public trust. Despite the fact that much of the area affected by the mountain pine beetle will naturally regenerate, the scale of the infestation is so vast that the 20 to 40 per cent requiring reforestation represents millions of hectares.

The effects of climate change on B.C.’s interior forests are truly epic in scope, but they don’t have to be catastrophic for generations to come.